RandyBoBandy
Minister of Fire
Thank you! @Diabel, you have also been a great contributor to this forum of the years. Your input has been equally beneficial to everyone here. What did you end up replacing your encore with?
2022/23 VC Owner thread
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RandyBoBandy
Minister of Fire
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There is nothing wrong with hitting 1500 for a short period of time. 1600 is the real “oh chit” territory. If you are wanting to walk away from the stove and go about your day try closing your primary a little more than half. My “auto pilot “ position to where I don’t have to worry about anything is barely open from fully closed.
Hi Randy,
I ended up selling the house with the encore. I still have a BK Princess at my cottage.
It was a lot of fun working out the quirks out of these VC stoves. Did we succeed…..not sure😜
RandyBoBandy
Minister of Fire
I’m hoping to get another 5 years out of my recent rebuild. By then I hope to have the funds to slide an Ashford onto the hearth. How much are you missing a top loader?
That was one of my worries. I always liked big splits and it was a crap shoot trying to fit a large split from the top on hot reload. I prefer the ease of loading from the front.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
Hot chocolate.. and chicken florentine.. is whats on the stove..
Well I woke up to this s**t show.....
Did my usual startup routine, raked coals to the back, loaded with wood 3/4 load. 100% air in bypass till stack temp came to 600 closed the damper and I heard the woosh....
I have come to the only logical conclusion, my stove is suffering from demonic possession. I need a priest.
I am so ready for a blaze king......
Did my usual startup routine, raked coals to the back, loaded with wood 3/4 load. 100% air in bypass till stack temp came to 600 closed the damper and I heard the woosh....
- Cat went to 1000F in 2 minutes.
- Closed the air down to 50%. Cat went to 1550+
- Opened the damper closed the air down to 10%
- Closed the damper cat went to 1550+, opened damper
- Third time was a charm.... gonna be a great day.
I have come to the only logical conclusion, my stove is suffering from demonic possession. I need a priest.
I am so ready for a blaze king......
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
Sorry been away for a week or so. Getting back to everyone now.
I agree that it seems cold, but that's about all I can get out of it. This is year 2 and last year we had a small chimney fire(horrible wood/even worse burning habits) so I run the soot eater through the chimney once a month or so. I just did it last weekend. I figure that I should be good for 3-5 weeks and not have to worry about anything.
There is absolutely some smoke. For example, over the weekend I did a reload and it took a little longer to take off than normal. I put my wife in charge of the stove and went out to smoke a cigar. About 15 minutes later I could smell the smoke constantly. I went in and opened the damper for 5 minutes, got everything back up where I run it and the smoke smell went away.
I've only seen the Auber hit 1000 once since I've had it installed and that happened to be last weekend. I was reloading before bed. After I closed the damper it hit 1004 I think before cooling down to the 600's and running there until I went to bed.
See above. I've only seen 1000 once and it was only for a couple minutes on a hot reload. If I understand the CAT correctly (there is a great chance that I don't) once the CAT is lit off (I would assume that it is at 1000) it should remain hot just burning gasses/smoke.
I agree that it seems cold, but that's about all I can get out of it. This is year 2 and last year we had a small chimney fire(horrible wood/even worse burning habits) so I run the soot eater through the chimney once a month or so. I just did it last weekend. I figure that I should be good for 3-5 weeks and not have to worry about anything.
There is absolutely some smoke. For example, over the weekend I did a reload and it took a little longer to take off than normal. I put my wife in charge of the stove and went out to smoke a cigar. About 15 minutes later I could smell the smoke constantly. I went in and opened the damper for 5 minutes, got everything back up where I run it and the smoke smell went away.
I've only seen the Auber hit 1000 once since I've had it installed and that happened to be last weekend. I was reloading before bed. After I closed the damper it hit 1004 I think before cooling down to the 600's and running there until I went to bed.
See above. I've only seen 1000 once and it was only for a couple minutes on a hot reload. If I understand the CAT correctly (there is a great chance that I don't) once the CAT is lit off (I would assume that it is at 1000) it should remain hot just burning gasses/smoke.
I typically run 1/2 to 3/4 of a load. That being said on the Intrepid that's only a couple splits 3-4.
you are right of course..... I started throwing in the cat at 400-500 stack gas temp. Seems to be working better for now. Cat slowly climbs up to 550 (10 min or so) and then takes off to 1000 (another 15 min or so). At 1000 I start throttling down the air in stages. Been doing half loads for now. Seems better.... until the demon returns.
Just for reference.... I clean my stack once a season. I have an 8" single wall liner inside a masonry chimney, about 25' in all. Every 3-5 weeks seems very frequent to me. Only time I had an issue was last year when I ran with my secondary air completely plugged to control cat temps. It worked but hurt secondary combustion and made a lot of creosote.... not doing that this year.
I have also found my nose is a great burn indicator, when the wind is right. If it smells really acrid I know the cat is not hot enough.
Cat should stay lit over 1000, on my stove I can kill the cat burn if I bring the air all the way down, so I don't do that. I am also running with 4 of the eight holes in my fireback plugged, so that reduces secondary air and may exacerbate that effect. If I bring the cat to 1000-1200 and then throttle air down to 25% the cat seems to drop to around 700-800 with spikes to 1000 during the burn. Unless the cat runs away and then it goes a million degrees......
I am really struggling with consistency. Smaller loads are definitely more controllable.
Yea I've never been able to turn my stove down all the way. Once my load is up and running I turn it down y about 25%, then I give it 15 minutes or so and turn it down to just under half. That's as low as I can go with it to prevent backpuffing.
I haven't messed with anything. My stove is completely how it came from the factory. I'd imagine that the CAT would be lighting off when it is in the 600-700 temps and that they heat of it lighting off would make it hotter. That just isn't the case with mine. I check the CAT every couple weeks for clogs and whatnot and it is never clogged. This could be because occasionally it lights off and burns all of the junk off.
The 3-5 weeks is absolutely very frequent. I had a house fire as a kid and a small chimney fire last year. 15 minutes of effort every 3-5 weeks gives me piece of mind, so I don't mind doing it. Last time I swept (Sunday) I took out the CAT and stuck my shop vac back where the CAT sits to get all of the fly ash and whatnot out. I haven't seen a difference after doing that though. At the end of the season I'll have a pro out to take a look at everything and for 1 last sweep.
Something seems off. My cat will spike between 1400-1500 and then slowly come down and sit north of 1000 for the next several hours. My stove is bigger, but your cat should still stay steady around 1000 to get a full secondary burn. For some reason it seems to be stalling.
Personally I think that my CAT is dead maybe next year I'll pick up a new one. The first year when I had a mid season sweep and found out we had a fire the CAT was clogged up really badly. The sweep recommended running without it(he doesn't seem to like CAT stoves one bit). When he came back at the end of last season it wasn't clogged up at all.
Another interesting thing is I can have a load in and burning at say 625STT after an hour or so the cat will only be 50 degrees or so above STT. I'd think that with a giant pile of coals and wood on fire that the CAT would be much warmer that STT at all times.
My firebox is tiny so 4-5 hours burns aren't going to happen, but lately I've been focused on creating a good coal bed. The stove is absolutely running better, but it still isn't running how it should be.
Anyone have a tutorial on how to replace the gasket on the damper? I think this could be some of my issues. Occasionally I get a nice firm seating and other times it feels a little squishy when I close the damper. Last night when I loaded up before bed I heard a whistle.
RandyBoBandy
Minister of Fire
There should be an adjustment bolt and lock nut in the center of the damper. What stove are you running? My 2550 was a pain in the ass to replace the damper gasket. Mainly because I also replaced the upper fireback. Which required a bunch of grinding to get everything to fit right.
RandyBoBandy
Minister of Fire
At 25’ of liner I would definitely close the damper sooner as Woodsplitter67 suggested. You can probably even start closing your primary around 750-850 cat temp.
I think there is a misnomer out there that once the cat is fully activated (say1000f) that no further heat is needed from the stove, just smoke to keep the cat activated at that level. My experience is that you still need significant heat from the stove to keep the cat activated. Just to say there are different levels of cat activation. At 750f the cat is activated even though you may still see some smoke out the chimney.
That seems to jive with my observations. I see smoke at 800 - 1000F, not much but a bit. Over 1200 and I see only steam or nothing. Sometimes hard to tell the difference between steam and smoke. Easiest on a clear blue sky day. If the wind is right I can smell it too..... Below 1000 and it smells bad, below 800 and it smells really bad. Above 1200 it has no smell or very faint.
Come to think of it.... I have a smoke tester..... I should try messing with that.
Is it possible you are getting "stuff" in there? I have noticed a similar feel when I have ash or creosote that falls in there from the flue when the damper is open. Occasionally I will get wood chips in there when loading. When it feels "squishy" I will open and close it a few times or rattle it around a bit to clear out whatever is in there.
Another fun time is when you load it chock full, get it nice and hot and then realize you can't close the damper cause wood is in the way, that's pretty exciting. Opening up the griddle on a full load that's ripping to jostle the pieces around...... That's usually when I hear the wife say "are there supposed to flames coming out the top?" or "careful you don't catch yourself on fire". Thanks for the tip dear.
After taking a look at it last night I have a little gasket on the damper flapping around. I ordered some gasket cement from Amazon yesterday, but dues to the holidays it wont be in until the 30th.
Long time lurker - first season burner. @arnermd - thanks so much for the data plots. I definitely understand my 2040 better with your data. I think they may all be possessed. Mine came with the feature where the primary air was stuck wide open (actuation cable was pinched between air manifold and stove wall).
Just got the AT100 installed - feeling ready for tonight’s temperature plunge.
Just got the AT100 installed - feeling ready for tonight’s temperature plunge.
New dauntless owner here.
I have spent about 2 weeks reading the crazy posts of these VC stoves. At least I'm not alone in my new found misery.
Here's my install.
My wife and I live in a cabin in Oregon and our old wood stove that was installed was on a raised harth. Its an old open faced fireplace and was either wide open hot or stone cold COLD. we had to load a log in it every 20 min similar to the fireplace challenges. It was useless.
I got a work performance bonus and figured I would use it for a new stove.
- I needed a top load, rear facing exit, shallow front due to the harth space. Width was very accommodating.
- I couldn't wait because of the tax rebate comming up
- I couldn't keep running the old stove that was burned out and our central heating system won't keep up with the cold alone. It would run non stop just to maintain 60deg in the house. I already had my load of firewood allocated for the year.
So I bought this VC dauntless.
Installations challenges:
I chose the rear exit because it needed to dip down under the granite surround facia.
I used a straight 6in single walled tube, with a 45deg bend up to a 6-8 inch adapter inside the fireplace. Our flew is 8 in double walled through the chimney. It's a total of 16 feet about the stove top.
Our draft isn't a problem, in fact it might be a tad low. This seems acceptable given the issues everyone else seems to have with run away issues.
I ran it for 3 weeks solid without the cat option, the seller had to order me one.
Dang, what a learning curve.
The stove seems more of a hobby heating device than an actual utility. Lots of ups and downs. Opening and closing the damper, opening and closing the primary air just to maintain temp.
We got the cat about a week ago and wow, now I can control the stove better. Not great, but better.
Here's my issue
I dont care about monitoring the cat temp, if I burn it up, I'll replace it every year.
I monitor stove top temps and flew temps. I need it to crank out heat to supplement our central air system.
Flew never gets over 300deg on fire up and pre heat, usually the sttp is about 550deg at that point.
I then close the damper and engage the cat.
I get a pretty ok burn of about 3-4 hours pumping out good heat and flew temps drop to about 250ish and sttp anywhere from 560- down to 350 throughout the burn.
I feel like the cat just helps me control the burn and clean up emissions, but it never seems to help make heat. I see zero output difference between the cat installed or removed.
Zero smoke out of the chimney when cat is engaged. The burn time didn't get longer with the cat, but its way more controllable.
Best burn to heat ratio is with cat engaged and air controll 3 clicks closed from full open. Any lower and it snuffs out and slowly gets cold, anyhigher and it eaaaasts wood like mad.
I burn very seasoned ash, maple and oak. I only use pine or fir for the initial stary and heat up.
Bottom line, these VC stoves require way to much work for a primary heating device.
I have spent about 2 weeks reading the crazy posts of these VC stoves. At least I'm not alone in my new found misery.
Here's my install.
My wife and I live in a cabin in Oregon and our old wood stove that was installed was on a raised harth. Its an old open faced fireplace and was either wide open hot or stone cold COLD. we had to load a log in it every 20 min similar to the fireplace challenges. It was useless.
I got a work performance bonus and figured I would use it for a new stove.
- I needed a top load, rear facing exit, shallow front due to the harth space. Width was very accommodating.
- I couldn't wait because of the tax rebate comming up
- I couldn't keep running the old stove that was burned out and our central heating system won't keep up with the cold alone. It would run non stop just to maintain 60deg in the house. I already had my load of firewood allocated for the year.
So I bought this VC dauntless.
Installations challenges:
I chose the rear exit because it needed to dip down under the granite surround facia.
I used a straight 6in single walled tube, with a 45deg bend up to a 6-8 inch adapter inside the fireplace. Our flew is 8 in double walled through the chimney. It's a total of 16 feet about the stove top.
Our draft isn't a problem, in fact it might be a tad low. This seems acceptable given the issues everyone else seems to have with run away issues.
I ran it for 3 weeks solid without the cat option, the seller had to order me one.
Dang, what a learning curve.
The stove seems more of a hobby heating device than an actual utility. Lots of ups and downs. Opening and closing the damper, opening and closing the primary air just to maintain temp.
We got the cat about a week ago and wow, now I can control the stove better. Not great, but better.
Here's my issue
I dont care about monitoring the cat temp, if I burn it up, I'll replace it every year.
I monitor stove top temps and flew temps. I need it to crank out heat to supplement our central air system.
Flew never gets over 300deg on fire up and pre heat, usually the sttp is about 550deg at that point.
I then close the damper and engage the cat.
I get a pretty ok burn of about 3-4 hours pumping out good heat and flew temps drop to about 250ish and sttp anywhere from 560- down to 350 throughout the burn.
I feel like the cat just helps me control the burn and clean up emissions, but it never seems to help make heat. I see zero output difference between the cat installed or removed.
Zero smoke out of the chimney when cat is engaged. The burn time didn't get longer with the cat, but its way more controllable.
Best burn to heat ratio is with cat engaged and air controll 3 clicks closed from full open. Any lower and it snuffs out and slowly gets cold, anyhigher and it eaaaasts wood like mad.
I burn very seasoned ash, maple and oak. I only use pine or fir for the initial stary and heat up.
Bottom line, these VC stoves require way to much work for a primary heating device.
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